Ring cameras may plan to track people using AI, according to leaked emails

Ring was the subject of significant backlash earlier this month, after a poorly received Super Bowl ad drew attention to its surveillance cameras' AI-powered Search Party feature. Though advertised as a tool to search neighbours' Ring footage for lost pets, many expressed concerns that the same technology could easily be used to track humans. It turns out that these fears may have been right on the money, and that such use could be part of the Amazon-owned company's plans.

404 Media reports that Ring founder and CEO Jamie Siminoff previously indicated intentions for its cameras to find specific individuals in an email to employees in early Oct. 2025, sent soon after Search Party's launch.

"I believe that the foundation we created with Search Party, first for finding dogs, will end up becoming one of the most important pieces of tech and innovation to truly unlock the impact of our mission," Siminoff wrote in the email sighted by 404 Media. "You can now see a future where we are able to zero out crime in neighborhoods. So many things to do to get there but for the first time ever we have the chance to fully complete what we started."

Siminoff did not make it explicit that Ring intends to turn Search Party's technology toward tracking people. However, such plans are strongly implied by his reported statements that Search Party's current iteration is a "foundation" only used for locating pets "first," and that Ring could "zero out crime."

Significantly, Ring introduced facial recognition to its surveillance cameras late last year. While the company promoted Familiar Faces as a tool for identifying people you know so that they don't trigger alerts, non-profit digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation warned that it has the potential to "violate the privacy rights of millions of people."

In a later email sighted by 404 Media, Siminoff reportedly also claimed that Ring's Community Requests feature could have potentially helped find the person who shot and killed conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 last year. Introduced days earlier on Sept. 4, Community Requests enables law enforcement to directly request footage from Ring camera users.

"[I]t just shows how important the Community Request tool will be as we fully roll it out," Siminoff reportedly wrote the day after Kirk's death, sharing a video of a Utah official speaking about the investigation. "It is so important to create the conduit for public service agencies to efficiently work with our neighbors."

In a statement to 404 Media, a Ring spokesperson said that Search Party currently doesn't track people, but did not confirm that it would never be used for such a purpose.

"Search Party helps camera owners identify potential lost dogs using detection technology built specifically for that purpose; it does not process human biometrics or track people," Ring's statement read. "Community Requests notify neighbors when local public safety agencies ask the community for assistance. Across these features, sharing has always been the camera owner’s choice. Ring provides relevant context about when sharing may be helpful — but the decision remains firmly in the customer’s hands, not ours."

Mashable has reached out to Ring for further comment.

Siminoff left Ring in 2023, but returned to lead the company again last April. Since then, he has refocused the surveillance camera company on collaborating with law enforcement, bringing it back in line with its original mission to "reduce crime in neighborhoods." Ring positioned itself as more community focused in 2024, changing its mission statement to "keeping people close to what's important" under then-CEO Liz Hamren, before it was altered again after Siminoff's return to "[making] neighborhoods safer."

As such, utilising Search Party's technology to track people would seem to follow Ring's current goals more closely than finding lost dogs does.

Ring has had a cosy history with law enforcement, having previously sent Ring camera footage to police without users' knowledge or consent. Further, a 2019 report from Motherboard revealed that the company had secretly provided dozens of U.S. police departments with free products and a private portal for requesting footage without a warrant, with officers asked to promote Ring to their local community in exchange.

Last week, Ring cancelled its partnership with law enforcement surveillance company Flock Security, as heightened distrust from customers reportedly prompted some to disconnect, destroy, or return their devices. Even so, Ring still maintains a partnership with taser-maker Axon, allowing police to request footage via its evidence management system.